


Growing Up (is Hard to Deal With)

by ErinisMagic



Series: Teenage Dadvid!AU [4]
Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Teenage Dadvid AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 13:49:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14403441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErinisMagic/pseuds/ErinisMagic
Summary: It's Max's first day of school and he's not happy about it. Not one bit.





	Growing Up (is Hard to Deal With)

**Author's Note:**

> As always, based off of [@directium](http://archiveofourown.org/users/directium)'s wonderful [Teenage Dadvid!AU](http://directium.tumblr.com/tagged/Teenage-Dadvid-AU)

David smiled proudly as he watched his son being led inside the brightly-colored classroom. Max turned back to look at him, lip trembling. “It's okay,” he told him softly, “go have fun. I'll be here to pick you up as soon as class is done.”

Max's teacher gave him a reassuring nod before closing the door. David let out a slow breath; Max's first day of kindergarten had officially begun.

Ever since David first broke the news of him starting school, Max had been unhappy; he'd been pretty disinterested at first, quickly moving into an all-out tantrum when he learned that going to school _like_ Dad didn't mean going to school _with_ Dad. David had tried his hardest to get Max excited for school after that, talking up all of the amazing things he'd get to do and learn, but it was no use. Not even the fun back-to-school shopping trips that David himself had always loved when he was younger were enough to sway Max's opinion.

When the morning finally came, it had only been the promise of homemade pancakes that got Max out of bed. David had taken the day off from work to make sure that everything went smoothly, so he had the time to make his son a nice breakfast before his first day.

He'd invited Gwen over to see him off as well. She had some time before her first class, and the promise of free food was too good to pass up. Besides as much as she complained, he knew she loved Max as much as he did. Well, almost as much.

Max had been sulking over his breakfast, spending more time pushing it around his plate than actually eating it. David and Gwen did their best to cheer him up, but it did hardly any good. By the time they were standing on the front lawn, David ready to take Max to school and Gwen ready to head off to class herself, the kid seemed even grumpier than when he woke up.

“Have a good first day, alright?” Gwen said with a smile. “See you at dinner.”

Max heaved a tiny sigh. “Thanks, Aunt Gwen,” he said sullenly as he climbed into the car. Even though he still needed David to help him with his seat belt, he pulled the door shut behind him.

Gwen stared after him for a few moments before what he said registered. “Did... did he just...?”

David's face split into a grin so big it looked uncomfortable. “Gwen!” he squealed, pulling her into a bone-crunching hug. Gwen didn't move to hug him back, but she didn't pull away either, allowing herself a smile of her own.

“Well,” she said after David let her go, “guess I'm officially a part of the family now.”

“Oh, Gwen. You always were.”

She ducked her head a bit, biting her lip to keep her smile from growing even bigger. “Yeah, well...” She cleared her throat. “I've gotta get going, or else I'll be late for class.”

David nodded. “We should probably get a move on, too. See you tonight?”

“Definitely.”

As Gwen went to her own car, David slipped into the driver's seat. A quick glance behind him reassured him that Max was all buckled in. “Ready to go, monster?” he asked, keeping his voice bright and excited.

Max pouted, kicking the seat.

When they got to the school, Max's teacher was already out in the yard, gathering all of their new students together to bring inside. A few went quietly, others excitedly, and one or two was clutching a parent's leg in tears. Max stayed at David's side, eyeing the group of kids he was meant to join warily.

David gave him a little nudge in their direction. “Go join your class,” he encouraged.

“I don't wanna.”

“You'll have a great time with them, Max, I promise.”

Max shook his head, face screwing up like he was about to either scream or cry.

David crouched down to pull him into a hug. “I know it's a little scary, but it'll be alright. It's just like you daycare was—you'll go and have a great time for a few hours, and then I'll be waiting right here to pick you up.”

Max stamped his foot, a tantrum clearly building. “I don't wanna!” he said again.

“You're a big kid now, Max,” David said, trying to be firm, “and big kids go to school.”

“Dad, no!” He clutched the hem of David's shirt, tears shining in his eyes.

David pressed a kiss to the top of his head, glancing up to see Max's teacher shepherding kids into the classroom. “Look, Max,” he said, nudging his son towards the door, “it's time to go now.”

“No!” he cried, pressing himself against David's side.

David sighed, resting a hand on Max's back. He knew he had to get Max off of him somehow, but he couldn't think of a way to do that without him throwing a tantrum. It wasn't uncommon for children to cry on their first day of school, but he didn't want Max to be one of them. “It's okay, monster, but you've got to go.”

Max sniffled, grabbing David's clothes tighter.

“Someone's a little reluctant to leave, huh?” David looked up to see Max's teacher smiling at him. He nodded, and they continued, “That's alright. Happens all the time.”

“Max,” David said softly, “you want to say hi to your new teacher?”

Max shook his head, but it didn't deter his teacher. “It's nice to meet you, Max,” they said in a friendly voice. “The rest of your class is going inside now; why don't you come along?”

“I don't wanna!”

“Why not?”

“Because I don't!”

“It'll be fun,” David encouraged. “I know you're going to love it, you just have to give it a shot.”

He gave Max a tiny shove, letting his teacher take his hand to lead him into the classroom. Max was watching him with watery eyes, and David waved him off with a bright smile. He kept waving until the door had shut, then he got back into the car and went home.

 

It felt weird to be home without Max. For the past five years, Max had pretty much been everywhere he'd been; he worked at Max's daycare, and almost always brought him along when he and Gwen had plans. Max hadn't made any friends yet, so he'd never gone over anyone's house for a playdate, or went out with another kid's parents responsible for looking after him. David had gotten so used to Max hanging onto him like an extra limb that, now that he wasn't here, it felt wrong.

The family room looked strange with all of Max's toys cleared off the floor. The carpet was freshly vacuumed, the blankets folded, laundry put away—it hadn't been this clean in ages. David chuckled as he reminded himself it wouldn't stay this way for long. As soon as Max was home he'd mess it up again.

It almost seemed like there was too much time in the day when he didn't have Max to look after. Cleaning hardly took an hour, and he got his homework done remarkably fast when he was able to sit down and give it his full attention.

It'd been so long since he'd had time all to himself, David almost didn't know what to do with himself. He went for a walk in the park, picked up a few groceries, did some baking, and still found himself with an hour to spare before Max got out of school.

He tried to sit down and do some reading for class, but he couldn't focus on it. He read halfway through one article and found that he retained none of it. Rather than try to force what was clearly not going to happen, he grabbed the keys and headed out to the car. He was still about half and hour early, but he figured it was better than being late. Besides, there was already a cluster of parents there, waiting for their kids to get out.

For the rest of the year Max would be taking the bus after school—David had worked it out so he could be dropped off at his daycare just in time for the afternoon session—but today, he wanted to be there; it was the reason he'd taken the day off.

He joined the group of parents waiting in front of the school. A few of them were looking at him curiously, which was more or less what he expected. He knew they were trying to figure out why he was there, and he shook his head to himself. Thankfully none of them seemed particularly nosy, giving him a few polite nods but otherwise leaving him alone.

That is, until one of the other parents came up to him, smiling in a way that made David feel vaguely uncomfortable. It made him think of all the rants about cougars Gwen had been going on lately, and he sincerely hoped that that wasn't the case here.

The woman looked to be in her early forties, and she was wearing a wedding ring. He would have liked to believe that her being married would stop her from hitting on him, though he knew that probably wouldn't be the case.

“Hi there,” she said, voice dripping like honey.

“Hi,” he responded politely.

“My name's Sharon.”

“It's nice to meet you,” he said with a nod, though he knew she was looking for his name.

Sure enough, she asked “And you are?”

“David.”

“A lovely name,” she said. When he didn't reply, she continued, “I think it's so sweet to see a young person like you here. Have you come to pick up your little brother or sister?”

“Actually, I'm here for my son.”

“Your son?” she said with a disbelieving laugh. “You can't be more than twenty!”

“Nineteen, actually.”

Her laughter stopped abruptly. A few parents inched away from him after that, like their proximity to a degenerate teen dad would taint their lives somehow. He had to stop himself from rolling his eyes; he'd long since gotten used to strangers judging him for being such a young father, but it was still ridiculous—and none of their business.

The woman paled and spluttered, trying to find some way to defend herself or save the conversation. Finding none, her only idea was to leave. It didn't bother him; he gave her a small smile and a polite nod as she walked away.

From across the yard floated the elated shout of “Dad!” and the next thing he knew, Max was crashing into his legs at full speed. The force was enough to send him stumbling back a few steps.

David caught his balance on the chain-link fence, smiling down at his son. Max's face was squished into David's thighs, arms wrapped around his knees in a vice-like grip. He gently pushed him off, giving himself space to crouch down and look at his kid face-to-face. “Hey, monster,” he said, leaning in to give him a kiss on the forehead. “Have a good first day?”

Then Max's arms were around his neck, face buried in his collar. David chuckled, hugging him back. “I missed you, too.” He slid an arm around Max's legs so he could bring him with him when he stood up.

Max settled against his hip, resting his head on his shoulder. “Can we go home now?”

David smiled against Max's hair. “Of course we can,” he said, already walking towards the car. He noticed some of the other parents shooting him dirty looks as he left, but he paid them no mind. Their opinions weren't important—Max was his son; he loved him, and that was all that mattered.

He dropped Max's backpack on the floor by his feet and buckled him into his car seat. Max squirmed a bit, kicking his heels against the plastic as David slipped around into the driver's seat. He pulled the car out of the parking lot, setting off towards home.

“Hey, Max,” he said, meeting his kid's gaze in the rear-view mirror, “guess what?”

“What?”

“I've got a surprise waiting for you when we get home.”

His face lit up with a smile that could have out-shone the sun. “A surprise? What is it?”

David chuckled lightly. “It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you!”

Max whined, pouting and putting on his best pleading eyes. David smiled and shook his head. “You'll just have to wait and see,” he said, turning his eyes back to the road.

“But Dad!”

He thought for a moment. “How about we make it a game?” he offered. “I'll give you hints, and you can try to guess what it is.”

Max didn't look particularly taken with the idea, but he accepted anyway.

“Okay, well, it's something good.”

“Is it a puppy?” Max lit up. He'd been begging for a pet for months, but David refused to get him anything that was more work than a goldfish; he knew he'd be the one who had to take care of it, and between work, Max, and his night classes, he just didn't have the time.

“No, it's not a puppy,” David told him, and tried not to feel bad about the way his face fell. “But it is something you like.”

“A new toy?”

David shook his head. “Nope. Not that either.”

Max huffed and fell back in his seat. “I don't want to play anymore.”

David glanced back in the mirror. He had his arms crossed over his chest, pouting as he stared out the window. “You okay?” he asked. Max remained silent. “Okay,” he said, mostly to himself. “How about some music?” Still Max said nothing, so David turned the radio on to fill the silence.

Max didn't say another word the rest of the way home.

Once he'd pulled into the driveway, David put the car in park and came around to help Max out of his car seat. The second he was free, Max bolted into the house, David grabbing his bag and following at a much calmer pace.

Max was already stretched out on the sofa by the time David got in. He put his son's bag down next to the coffee table before moving towards the kitchen. “You ready for your surprise?” he called back, prompting Max to slide to the floor with a soft _thump_ and follow his dad.

“What is it?” he asked, excitement creeping into his voice.

David smiled, pleased to hear him cheering up. He grabbed a tray off of the counter and turned around to show Max. “Ta-da!”

“Cookies!”

“Mm-hmm, I baked them earlier while you were in school.”

Max's smile was dazzling, and he threw himself forward for a hug. David barely managed to keep him from knocking over the tray, but once he had it balanced he shifted to hold it in only one hand so he could hug Max back with his free arm. He gave him a kiss on the top of his head before saying, “Why don't you go sit at the table, and we can have these for our snack today.”

As Max scrambled towards the table, David put the tray back on the counter and grabbed plates and glasses for them. He set the glasses on the table, filling them both with milk. He put two cookies on each of the plates and sat down next to Max, placing one of the plates in front of him.

Max happily dug into his treat, and David smiled to see his mood improved. Usually it was much harder to lift Max out of a bad mood than it was to send him into one, but this time things seemed to work out. Max was chattering away about all the reasons why he should get a puppy and David nodded along, though he had no intention of getting him a pet for at least another few years.

Max finished his cookies fairly quick, putting his plate and cup in the sink upon David's request. Then he ran off into the family room, leaving David to wash the dishes. He laughed softly, enjoying his son's energy.

Max was playing with his Lego set when David came in. “Hey, monster, what're you building?”

“A zoo. This is the entrance,” he said, pointing to an arch he'd stood up on the floor. “And this is the sidewalk to the tigers, and this is the sidewalk to the lions—”

“And what are you working on right now?”

“It's the snake house,” he said proudly, holding up the half-finished wall in his hands.

“Looks good!” he told him, and Max beamed.

“Wanna help?”

“I'd love to,” David said as he dropped down to sit next to Max. “What can I do?”

Max pushed a pile of Legos over to him. “You can make the bear cage.”

David grabbed a handful of bricks, locking a few of them together. “So,” he started, “you never told me how your day was. Do you like your new school?”

“No.”

“No? Didn't you have fun?”

Max shook his head.

“What about your new classmates? And your teacher? I bet they're all super nice, right?”

Max shook his head again. “Didn't like them.”

David hummed thoughtfully. “Well, the first day is always the hardest. I'm sure you'll have more fun tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Max echoed, looking up at him sharply. “You mean, I have to go back?”

“Well, yeah. You'll go to school five days a week, just like me.”

Max pouted. Then he scowled. His face scrunched up and he threw down the piece he was working on. David winced as Max started screaming, thrashing around on the floor in frustration. He always hated seeing his son throw tantrums like this, although considering the frequency with which Max threw these tantrums he really should have been used to it by now.

David put down the Legos he was holding and slid closer to Max. He brushed the loose bricks away from him and laid a hand on his head. “C'mon now, monster, there's no need for all of this,” he said softly, stroking Max's hair. “Why don't you take a deep breath and tell me what's wrong, and then we can try to find a way to fix it together.”

Max showed no sign of calming down. David sighed; it was rarely that easy to stop one of Max's tantrums, but he'd been hoping. “I can't help you feel better if you don't let me know what's bothering you. If you calm down, we can talk about it, okay?” He kept talking, though it didn't seem to be doing much good.

Eventually Max stopped screaming. David let out a slow breath of relief and looked down at him, making sure to keep his face soft and soothing. “Feeling better now?” he asked.

Max was frowning, and he hummed unhappily. His eyes were drooping a bit—he was always tired out after a big tantrum like that. David slid a hand under his back to pick him up. “I think it's time for a nap,” he said gently, carrying Max towards his room.

“Okay.” Max's voice was quiet, muffled against his dad's shoulder.

David slipped into Max's room, gently laying him down on his bed. He pulled the blankets up to his shoulders, tucking him in loosely. As Max settled down, he gave him a kiss on the top of his head before backing quietly out of the room.

 

Max was calmer after he woke up from his nap, but his mood had not improved. He was sulky despite all of David's best efforts to cheer him up. He sat at his spot at the kitchen table, kicking his feet against the chair legs as he watched David cook an early dinner.

From his spot at the stove, David heard the lock turn and the front door open. A moment later, Gwen called out for them, “Hey!”

David smiled. A couple of months ago, he had a key made for her. She was over so often, watching Max every night while David was in class, that it only made sense. Besides, he trusted her more than anyone—he knew he could rely on her if he ever needed anything. For some reason, it felt _right_ whenever she let herself into his house. “Hey, Gwen!” he called back. “We're in the kitchen. You're just in time for dinner!”

“Excellent,” she said with a wide grin as she entered the room. She patted David's shoulder in greeting as she made her way to where Max was sitting at the table. “Hey, kiddo,” she said, ruffling his hair. Max pouted and batted her hand away. “How was your first day of school?”

“Stupid,” he grumbled as he tried to fix his hair.

“Don't call things stupid, Max,” David admonished. “It's not nice.” Gwen, on the other hand, just laughed. David shot her a look; they both knew very well that Max learned all of his bad language from her, not that she really cared. Honestly, the things he heard the two of them saying when they thought he wasn't around would have given his grandmother (may she rest in peace) a heart attack.

“But it _was_ ,” he argued. “Do I really have to go back?”

“Yeah,” Gwen said, holding back another laugh, “'fraid so.”

Max whined, dropping his head down onto the table.

“School isn't so bad, Max,” David said as he took the pasta off the stove and dumped it into the strainer. “You'll get to learn lots of really cool and exciting things, and make a whole bunch of friends!”

“Your dad and I met in school,” Gwen told him, and David nodded in agreement.

“That's right; we met working on a project for one of our classes. And where would we be now without Gwen?”

Max peeked up at that, just in time to see David place a plate of spaghetti down in front of him. He sighed and sat up all the way, resting his chin in his hand. “I don't need friends,” he said, picking up his fork to poke at the food.

Gwen and David exchanged a frown. On more than one occasion, David had expressed his concern over Max's lack of friends. He never played with the other kids in his day care, preferring to ignore them rather than having any sort of interaction, and any time they asked if they could play with him he became downright hostile. Gwen would be the first to admit she didn't have a clue about to normal childhood development, but even she agreed that that probably wasn't good.

“Everyone needs friends, Max,” David said as Gwen dropped a spoonful of sauce onto the kid's spaghetti.

“Why?” he countered, clearly in the mood to be difficult.

“Because friends are great! You play together, and talk to each other, and share with each other...”

“And help each other when one of you needs it,” Gwen put in. David nodded in agreement.

Max shook his head. “But I have you guys for that.”

“Yes,” David said slowly, “but we're your family. Friends are different. Special.”

“Family gets on your nerves sometimes,” Gwen said, “and you're stuck with them no matter what. But you can choose your friends.”

“Then I choose no-one. I don't need friends.”

“Well,” David said after a pause, “maybe you'll change your mind someday.”

Max sighed and fell silent. David looked to Gwen, and she shrugged helplessly. Childcare was not her strong suit. When Max got quiet and moody like this, she left him alone until David got back so he could deal with it. If David didn't know what to do, they were fucked.

Max was silent for the rest of dinner. He poked at his food more often than he ate it, which did nothing to set David's mind at ease.

Once he was excused from the table, Max scrambled into the family room, stretching out on the sofa and putting on the TV. David got up as well, starting to clear up, but Gwen stopped him.

“I'll worry about the dishes, David,” she said, shooing him away from the table. “You've got to get going or you'll be late for class.”

“I know, I know, I just...” he sighed. “I hate leaving, especially when he's in a mood.”

Gwen laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “We'll be fine, don't worry about it. Just go—the longer you stay, the harder it'll be to leave.”

He stayed in the kitchen for a few moments more before relenting, walking reluctantly into the front hall. He pulled his sweatshirt off the coat hook, stuffing it in his backpack in case it got cold later. He pocketed his phone and his wallet, and grabbed his keys off the table. “I have to go to class now, Max,” he called. “Come say bye?”

Max slid off the couch and ran into the front hall, immediately throwing himself into a hug.

David pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “Be good for Gwen, okay? Don't fight her on bedtime. I'll see you again in the morning.”

He always hated having to leave Max like this every night, even though he knew he was in good hands. He was sure Max hated it too, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He pulled him in closer for a moment, trying to channel all of his love into the hug, before letting go and heading out to the car.

As he pulled out of the driveway, he looked up to see Max waving to him out the window. He waved back, and didn't stop until the house was out of view.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry it took me so long to get out, but here it is at last! As per usual, there's some stuff that I'm not entirely happy with here, but that's how it always is with writing. I figured it was probably better to just get it done than fuss with it forever, you know? 
> 
> There's one more work left in this series, but I've barely even started on it so it's definitely going to take a while before it comes out. It is a two chapter piece, though--Max will be around 8 or 9 in the first chapter and 10 in the second. So you can look forward to that, if you want.
> 
> Also I wrote this instead of my finals, so RIP me.


End file.
